


Chronic

by Sickfickery



Series: Cade the Chronically Ill [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Bisexual Male Character, Bloating, Bradley Fisher, Burping, Cade Wilder, Cade's a mess, Canon Gay Relationship, Chronic Illness, Domestic Fluff, GERD - Freeform, Gas - Freeform, Gay Male Character, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nausea, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, References to Illness, Sickfic, Stomachache, acid reflux, dumb bloated baby, has been since high school and now here he is, indigestion, upset stomach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 06:11:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21351532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sickfickery/pseuds/Sickfickery
Summary: Cade has been struggling with gastro-esophageal reflux disease since his sophomore year of high school. This is glimpse into one of his flare-ups now, at age 20, with childhood friend and fiancé Bradley there to care for him, as always.
Series: Cade the Chronically Ill [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1539247
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Chronic

**Author's Note:**

> My OC Sickfic blog can be found here : https://tomato-sickfics.tumblr.com/

Cade’s stomach had been treating him so well for so long. His GERD was in remission and had been for almost three months now. He’d been able to eat things he hadn’t eaten since high school.

So that’s why he and Bradley were shocked regarding the routine of the last week. On Monday, Cade had unexpectedly woken up with an awful, all too familiar taste in his mouth and a burning, wheezing cough that made his chest tight and his throat and nostrils burn. His belly was bloated and the terrible reflux burps started soon after. And that pattern had continued all the way until today, Sunday morning. 

Cade drifted into uneasy consciousness, and the first thing he felt wasn’t Bradley’s warm arm resting lightly across his side or the pressure of his chin on the top of his head; rather, Cade registered the same clawing fire in his chest he’d felt hundreds of times and the rotten taste coating his mouth.

His belly was already swirling with upset and a sick sounding gurgle traveled from his chest up to his throat, a sluggish burp dragging out for a few painful seconds, acid ravaging his throat. It brought with it a foul smell and a bit of his stomach contents to the back of his throat, and he fought a slight retch. 

Apparently his belch had been louder than he thought, because Bradley shifted next to him and blearily opened his eyes. 

“Hey,” he said softly, and Cade whined slowly, pressing his face into Bradley’s neck. “Not feeling good?”

Cade burped against his neck and breathed deeply. “Sorry,” he whispered. “Not feeling good.”

Bradley held his fiance firmly and patted his back gently. “Don’t apologize. I don’t mind.”

Cade felt his resolve cracking. He’d held out this whole week, pretending he was fine with the return of his illness. Of course he’d known his illness would return eventually, but he’d nearly gotten used to feeling normal again. He could feel his heart hammering a little bit and he tried to hold back the rising belch, only for it gurgle out of his mouth painfully and onto the skin of Bradley’s neck again. It smelled bad and he mumbled another apology. “I know that’s not true. You’ve cracked that facade before.”

Bradley’s breath caught in his throat and Cade felt him swallow several times, clearly guilty and unsure of what to say. “Cade…” He started, but trailed off without being able to say anything to defend himself. He simply opted to hug his fiance even tighter. “I’m sorry.”

Cade’s bloated belly cramped with gas pain upon being pressed into Bradley’s, and he groaned in pain, the very movement causing his stomach to gurgle harshly. He squirmed in Bradley’s arms and the former let go of him, concern shining brightly in his black eyes. Cade forced himself to sit up and pressed his hand into his chest as it burned. A fit of coughing overtook him and stomach acid crawled agonizingly up his esophagus. He slid his hand down to his abdomen and ran it up and down slowly, trying to soothe the sickness plaguing it. It aided in launching a wet, bubbly burp from him, but his torso seized in pain again as soon as the outburst tapered off. It sounded disgusting, like he was about to puke, and tasted even worse. “Oh, fuck...water,” he croaked, just about clawing at his throat.

Bradley stumbled out of bed and when he returned, Cade was sitting at the edge of the bed with his hand pressed into his swollen stomach while his mouth hung open over his lap. 

“Woah. Woah! Cade!” Bradley exclaimed upon seeing the familiar look of nausea twisting Cade’s facial features. When he burped again there was a slight grunt from the back of his throat, like he was holding back a retch. “Hold on, just hold it for one min-“

“Brad—I’m okay,” Cade said hoarsely, “it just tastes awful.”

Bradley frowned and sat lightly on the edge of the bed next to his fiancé, proffering the cup of water and allowing his racing heart to slow. He’d warmed it up in the microwave, knowing it would help soothe the sting in Cade’s throat. 

“Do you need to call out of work?” 

Cade heaved a shuddery sigh after downing the water quickly and nodded with a miserable whimper. “I think so,” he whispered. 

The issue with this was that Cade hadn’t even had his job for more than a month yet. His employer knew he had a chronic illness, but she hadn’t seen the scope of how bad it was. But she’d agreed to reasonable accommodations, and it was a chronic illness. Could she fire him for that? He didn’t actually know the rules, and he was so stressed out. 

It wasn’t fair. The stress would make the episode even worse, and he felt like it was never going to stop. The pain was just—incapacitating. 

“Hey,” Bradley said suddenly, “don’t you have that one prescription…you know, Nexium?”

“Didn’t work very well—brrp—didn’t—refill it...haven’t refilled it since May.” Cade struggled to speak around the lump in his throat. “It’s not like an antacid—it takes—takes weeks to start helping.”

Bradley’s face contorted in his own kind of misery. He was helpless. He could give Cade water, antacids, and a warm body to cuddle with. But he couldn’t soothe the emotional pain. Cade had always been stoic, not often offering many facial expressions other than neutral, bored, amused, or pissed. But Bradley had known him his entire life. He could see the panic in Cade’s tired eyes kick up a notch every morning his flare-up continued. For Cade, the mental impact was just as strong as the physical one. He couldn’t sing with a throat singed by his stomach acid, or with the breathlessness that accompanied his cough. He could still play the guitar, but he couldn’t look at the strings. Looking down made it feel like his stomach was falling into his throat. What the hell was he supposed to do? 

Bradley carded his fingers through Cade’s greasy hair. He’d been so sick this whole week; his hair had gone unwashed and he wasn’t smelling his best. “You need a shower.” He murmured. Bradley himself felt a little grimy, even though he’d showered yesterday. 

Cade blushed. “I know, I’m disgusting right now. I’m sorry.” 

Bradley continued running his fingers through Cade’s hair, his nails lightly grazing his scalp in a way that made him shiver. It was a welcome distraction. 

“That’s not what I meant, baby. A warm shower might help the nausea.” 

Cade considered this for a moment. “Okay. I want a bath, though.” 

Bradley waited while Cade shuddered through another wet burp and swallowed several times. “I’ll stay with you and wash your hair.” 

Cade nodded. He looked utterly exhausted. “Can you get me…” he trailed off, looking like he was about to cry. “God,” his voice cracked, “I’m asking so much of you. It’s not fair. I’m sorry.” 

Bradley was really, really worried. “Shh, I’m gonna go draw a bath, alright? What do you need from me?” His voice was incredibly gentle, nothing like his usually boisterous, exuberant tone. 

“Antacid…”

Bradley smiled and made his way to the bathroom, drawing up a hot bath at a temperature he knew Cade liked. He grabbed some Tums and summoned his fiancé to the bathroom, handing him two of the chalky tablets. He chewed them with a sullen glance. Bradley grabbed a towel from the hallway, and Cade was stripped down to his boxers once he returned. He had his arms braced on the sink and was rocking back and forth on the heels of his palms as fire raged in his chest. 

Bradley took a shuddering breath and pressed himself against his fiancés shaking bare back, wrapping his arms around him and reaching up to rub gentle circles on his sternum. 

“Oh…keep doing that.”

Bradley smiled, happy that he was doing at least something to help. He looked down when Cade’s entire body jolted with a wet belch, and he leaned forward to spit into the sink. “That felt so good,” he groaned.

“I’m glad,” Bradley pulled back. “But your bath is gonna get cold.” 

Cade turned his head to frown back at him, but begrudgingly removed his boxers and lowered himself into the bath with a groan of pleasure as the warm water washed over his skin. He leaned back against the wall and breathed in the steamy air. “Thank you. I love you.” 

Bradley sat on the closed toilet and took the shampoo and conditioner out of the shower caddy. He took a cup that was on the bathroom counter and scooped up some bath water, pouring it over Cade’s messy, tangled hair. The man looked like an absolute mess—his belly was bloated, face flushed , hair greasy-- but Bradley still thought he was the most gorgeous boy he’d ever laid eyes on. 

“I love you too. Don’t you ever doubt that.” 

Cade nodded and closed his eyes, rubbing a hand over his bare chest, relishing the feeling of warm water soaking into his hair and streaming down his back. He inhaled and suddenly broke off into a hoarse cough, his eyes squeezed shut as his esophagus burned. Bradley kneaded a hand into Cade’s back, furrowing his brows. He coughed particularly hard and broke off into a shallow retch before he began to calm down. 

He took a minute to swallow over and over again, burped, then opened his eyes. They were watering. 

“You okay?”

“For a minute,” Cade wheezed, “I forgot how much I hate this.” 

“Poor baby…” Bradley murmured quietly. “Are those antacids kicking in?” 

Cade replied with a long, deep belch and sighed in relief. 

“Yes?” 

“Uh-huh. Doesn't feel like I’m about to choke on stomach acid and puke.” Cade burped loud and long again and put his fist to his mouth. “And there’s that, too.”

Bradley laughed and started massaging shampoo into Cade’s scalp, smiling at the small shiver that ran through his body at the contact.

It was obviously time to go back to the doctor. Bradley didn’t know if it was just a flare-up. Maybe his ulcer was recurring, or maybe he’d been too stressed. 

Either way, it broke him to see him suffer like this.


End file.
